911 briefs -- Published April 27, 2008

STOCKTON - Three people suspected of throwing full cans of beer at a bus driver were arrested a short while later when police went to investigate an apparently unrelated disturbance.

The Record

STOCKTON - Three people suspected of throwing full cans of beer at a bus driver were arrested a short while later when police went to investigate an apparently unrelated disturbance.

The three boarded a San Joaquin Regional Transit District bus Friday night. The trio were loud and unruly on the bus, playing music at an inappropriate volume and using profanity, according to a police report.

The bus driver asked them to stop. When the trouble-making trio got off the bus at El Dorado and Oak streets, they doubled back toward the driver and threw unopened beer cans at the driver, hitting the driver in the head at least once, police reported. Police did not provide the driver's medical condition.

At around 8:40 p.m., officers investigating a disturbance in the area recognized the three from circulated descriptions and arrested them.

Michael Anthony Lopez, 20, of Stockton and Richard Villanueva, 19, a transient, were booked into the County Jail on suspicion of assault, street terrorism, criminal conspiracy, public intoxication and resisting arrest. Lopez was also booked on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a weapon. A 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, public intoxication, disturbing the peace and possession of tobacco products.

STOCKTON - A break in a refrigeration line at a Pacific Avenue grocery store on Saturday morning drew a hazardous materials team for cleanup, but the store was back in business later in the day.

Lilienthal said the building was quickly evacuated, and no one was injured.

When firefighters arrived, the interior of the building was obscured by a light fog, Lilienthal said.

"It looked like a really foggy day inside the entire store," he said.

The refrigerant, R-22, displaces oxygen, creating a risk of asphyxiation for anyone who stays within it too long, Lilienthal said.

S-Mart estimated damage in lost merchandise at well over $100,000, he said.

The Fire Department's hazardous materials team worked at the scene for about three hours, then turned it over to county Public Health Services.

The store was cleaned, cleared and back in business later in the day, an S-Mart employee confirmed when reached by phone.

STOCKTON - A 34-year-old Stockton woman was killed in a three-car vehicle collision in Fremont early Saturday morning, the California Highway Patrol reported.

At around 3:50 a.m. Saturday, a 22-year-old Fremont man was driving north in a southbound lane of Interstate 680 north of North Mission Boulevard, the CHP reported in a news release.

The Stockton woman, driving a 2001 Hyundai, model unspecified, turned to avoid colliding with the wrong-way driver, lost control and spun out, coming to rest facing east and blocking a lane.

A 52-year-old San Francisco man who also swerved to avoid the wrong-way driver struck the Hyundai, and the Stockton woman suffered fatal injuries, the CHP reported. The San Francisco man suffered minor injuries.

The wrong-way driver continued to drive north on southbound I-680 and was stopped by a CHP-deployed spike strip at Stoneridge Drive in Pleasanton. He was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

None of the parties involved in the collision was identified in the news release. The collision is still under investigation, the CHP said.